Strategic Behavior of In-Motion Wireless Charging Aggregators in the Electricity and Transportation Networks

Abstract

This paper presents a framework to determine the strategic bidding of the wireless charging aggregators that operate wireless charging stations to provide in-motion charging services for the electric vehicles. The proposed framework captures the interactions between the electricity and transportation networks through competition among the wireless charging aggregators. Wireless charging aggregators participate in the wholesale electricity market to minimize the cost of gained energy from the bulk electricity network. In the retail wireless charging market, wireless charging aggregators compete to maximize their revenue by offering energy to the electric vehicles that are traveling on the transportation links. The strategic behavior of the wireless charging aggregators highlights the interdependence between the electricity and transportation infrastructure systems. In each system, the strategic behavior of the entities is determined by formulating a bi-level optimization problem which is further transformed into a mathematical problem with equilibrium constraints. The upper-level problem maximizes the profit of the entities while the lower level problem ensures the balance between the demand and supply in each infrastructure system. The demand and supply balance is guaranteed by the optimal power flow in the electricity network and the user equilibrium traffic assignment in the transportation network.